Continuum
by Mistress Sezza
Summary: In the moments before death, Daniel faces his regrets. Sam/Daniel. Tag to Continuum. OneShot. Warning for major character death (sort of)


**Well I finally got through enough of Atlantis to watch Continuum last night, and I thought it was such a shame they didn't add a little scene like this in, even just in a friendship way as they died together. So I wrote one instead :D**

**Warning for major character death, but if you've seen Continuum, then you already know that.**

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Daniel's trigger finger had long gone numb from the vibrations as he squeezed off round after round at incoming Jaffa. The sounds of firefight echoed through the chamber's chasm, making his ears ring, but after over ten years, he was sadly more than used to the sound and smell of gunfire. He was also used to the feeling of adrenaline pumping through his veins, and was accustomed enough to be able to focus it with practised ease. He was especially focussed because he was crouched down in front of Sam's turned back, protecting her with a constant string of cover fire as she diligently worked at the control panel, searching through the numerous instances of solar flares to find the one shot they had of returning home and undoing this horrible mess. She worked this way, as she had many times, with her back turned to impending danger and possible death, because she knew he was there. He would have her back, watch her six, cover her, protect her, as he had a thousand times before.

"Sam!" Daniel called over the barrage as his pistol clicked over the empty barrel. Without him needing to utter another word, she quickly turned from the control console and handed him her backup ammo, their connection after all these years of fighting side by side verging on psychic.

With skilled efficiency, Daniel slipped the clip into the barrel and unleashed another volley of bullets, his face pulled tight in determination.

"I found one, but you're not going to like it!" Sam called out as the last of the Jaffa fell and they had a seconds reprieve, a holographic green orb floating in front of her face.

"Why not?" Cam demanded as he too, reloaded his rifle.

"It sends us back to 1929."

"That's ten years too soon!"

A fourth wave of Jaffa ringed down and Daniel raised his gun once again, taking careful aim as the rings disappeared into the floor and the air was once again filled with the thunder of artillery and the scent of gunpowder.

"Well, it'll have to do, because I'm just about out of-" The rest of Daniel's words never left his lips as a terrible, burning pain ripped through him. He didn't even know he'd fallen until he realised he was staring up into the inky blackness of the unseen roof. Pain simultaneously set his body on fire and made him numb. Pain made his ears ring and his vision cloud. Pain made it almost impossible to suck air into his lungs, and for a long moment he didn't think he would draw another breath.

A bright flash streaked over his head and his eyes followed it, watching in silent horror as the blast struck Sam's now unprotected back. He saw her fly forward from the impact, then slump to the ground, and he would have screamed if he'd had enough air in his lungs.

Dully, as if underwater, he heard Cam call out her name, he heard the wormhole activate, and he heard Teal'c's dull groan as he was shot down. But the only thing he could focus on was Sam.

He craned his neck to see her small frame crumpled on the floor, unmoving, her arm flung out awkwardly behind her. Through his pain-induced haze, he could still make out the smouldering circular burn mark in her back.

Gritting his teeth, Daniel reached his arm out and pulled himself a few inches forward. He swallowed down a scream as agony ripped through his side. His vision began to tunnel, the edges going black, but he focussed on her as everything else fell away.

Slowly, slowly, he dragged his dying body over to hers. The pain was beginning to fade, replaced by numbness, and he knew he wouldn't have long. But still, he had to go to her, he had to be with her, he couldn't let her die alone.

With a groan and a faint cry, Daniel pulled his body up next to hers. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder, holding his breath and bracing himself for the worst as he rolled her over to face him.

Daniel's chest tightened painfully. Sam's beautiful azure eyes rolled around in their sockets, unfocussed and unseeing, but she was still alive. For now.

With a last Herculean effort, he threw his arm across her and pulled her close, their heads less than an inch apart.

"Sam." He tried to call out to her, to let her know she was not alone, but his voice scraped and spluttered out in barely a whisper. It seemed to work though, or maybe she just sensed his familiar presence, as she had done so many times before. They'd never had to look up to know the other was in the room.

Sam's gaze locked on his, her eyes seeming to lose some of their dullness as she struggled to focus on his face. She opened her mouth to speak, but only bright red blood bubbled from her lips, dribbling from the corner of her mouth. Daniel reached up to cup her cheek, his thumb stroking over clammy skin as he held her gaze, trying to assure her that she need not speak, that he understood.

Daniel suddenly wished all Jack's jokes about them being able to communicate telepathically were true. He would give anything to bring her words of comfort, or to hear her soft voice one last time. Sam had been right the day he'd ascended. We do wait too long to tell people how we really feel. He had never told her that he'd heard her words that day. In fact, he'd never told her a lot of things. And now he would never get the chance to.

He'd never told her how much he'd missed her when she returned from Atlantis. He'd never told her what he felt the day she found him on Vis Uban, never told her the things he'd realised once his memories returned. He'd never told her how terrified he was when she went missing on the _Prometheus,_ or how he was sick with worry when she was on the run from a Kull warrior at the Alpha site, or the jealousy that stabbed through his heart, sharp as the RepliCarter's blade, when she told him she was going to marry Pete.

He'd had years to tell her, so many moments where he could have blurted out the truth and let the cards fall where they may, but he had been a coward, and now it was too late.

Vaguely, he heard the chilling sound of Qetesh's mocking, so familiar yet so wrong, but he couldn't see anything other than Sam's drawn and pale face, his vision falling to a pinpoint as the darkness threatened to overtake him and an aching coldness seeped into his bones.

He leant forward, almost fell really, as the last of his strength failed him, and pressed his lips to hers. He tried desperately to impart all unsaid things, all unspoken words into the kiss. He tried to tell her, through the meeting of their lips alone, how much he cared for her, how much she meant to him, how much he loved her.

His head dropped to the floor as the last tendrils of his life leeched from his body, their noses touching as they lay side by side, hands clasped together between them, fingers entwined. A weak smile lifted at the corner of her mouth, and he knew she had understood his message.

He held her gaze, two sets of cobalt eyes filled with love and pain, then slowly, the bright, brilliant shimmer in her blue eyes dulled, the spark fading, leaving the eyes he'd loved so dearly hollow and lifeless. He thought he felt wetness trickle down his face, but he couldn't be sure, his whole body was numb and growing colder by the second.

Daniel released his final breath, content in the fact that, at least, the last thing he'd ever see was her angelic face. He stopped fighting, and let the darkness take him. His final thoughts were of hope; hope that Cam had gotten through and reversed the timeline, hope that everything would return to the way it was meant to be, hope that his future self would not waste so much time in telling the woman he loved how he truly feels, and hope that somewhere, in some timeline, at least one Daniel Jackson will spend his long and happy life loving and being loved by one Samantha Carter.


End file.
